The Official Ladder: I ascend to the pinnacle of power, wielding the power of life and death.

"I'm just standing up for Su Yun. What a wonderful girl she is, gentle, considerate, and beautiful."

After Chen Yajing finished speaking, she looked around and, seeing that no one was there, said, "I'm leaving tomorrow. Aren't you going to say goodbye?"

"Leaving so soon?"

"Yes, the province is urging me to go there first, and I can handle the paperwork and stuff later."

"I didn't know you were leaving today, otherwise I would have prepared a small gift for you in advance."

"No need, just give me a hug, that's enough."

Upon hearing Chen Yajing's words, Jiang Yiming was stunned for a full three seconds. He hadn't expected Chen Yajing to make such a request.

Before Jiang Yiming could react, Chen Yajing hugged him.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Chen Yajing got up and left, waving her hand and saying, "Remember to look me up when you come to the province, let's have dinner together again."

After saying that, he disappeared into the night without giving Jiang Yiming a chance to react.

Jiang Yiming watched Chen Yajing's graceful figure disappear, somewhat puzzled.

Could it be that what Chen Wei said was true?

But he and Chen Yajing didn't have much interaction, so she shouldn't have any feelings for him.

Unable to figure it out, Jiang Yiming stopped thinking about it and called Ding Li to come pick him up.

Just as he got into the car, Su Huaizhang called him.

"Uncle Su".

Jiang Yiming answered the phone.

“You’ve been busy with the bank robbery case lately, so I haven’t bothered you. Xiaoyun told me you were having dinner together, and I thought it was about time to wrap things up, so I gave you a call.”

Su Huaizhang smiled and said, "Come to my house with Xiaoyun later. I'd like to have a chat with you."

"I have something to attend to here, so I'll let Su Yun go first."

Jiang Yiming said, "I've finished my business, I'll go over now."

"Okay, I'll wait for you at home."

When Jiang Yiming arrived, Su Yun had already brewed tea in the living room and was chatting with Su Huaizhang.

Upon seeing Jiang Yiming arrive, Su Yun and Su Huaizhang stood up to greet him.

"Uncle Su, you don't need to be so polite."

Jiang Yiming walked over quickly.

"Okay, let's sit down and talk."

After the three of them sat down, Su Huaizhang said, "I'd like to talk to you about Xiaoyun's work."

"Thanks to your help, she was transferred to work in the industrial park and got the position of section chief. However, in the long run, if she wants to advance further, her development in this position is limited."

“Recently, Lu Hui, the secretary of the Communist Youth League Committee of Xinping County, is going to take up a post in a township. This position will soon be vacant, and I would like to try to help Xiaoyun. Of course, I am now an old comrade who has passed the test, so I can only ask you for help with some things.”

"Of course, I'm working on smoothing things over with the relationships that need to be worked out. But I'll need your help with the crucial step."

"There are a lot of people eyeing this position, so I will do my best."

Jiang Yiming is only the deputy secretary; he cannot make direct decisions on many matters.

"Okay, that's enough."

Su Huaizhang said to Su Yun, "Xiao Yun, your aunt's shoulder has been uncomfortable these past few days. Go in and give her a massage."

Su Yun knew that her uncle was trying to get her away so that he could have a private conversation with Jiang Yiming.

Although she was curious, she still went into the room.

"Yiming, how's the bank robbery case going?"

"It wasn't particularly smooth."

Jiang Yiming said, "The bank robbery case has been basically solved, but there are more complicated things involved behind it, and the interrogation is still ongoing."

"Is it related to Shen Jian, the president of the Agricultural Bank of China?"

Jiang Yiming was somewhat taken aback. This matter was highly confidential, and only a very few people knew about it.

How did Su Huaizhang find out?

Could it be that someone leaked the news?

"Don't be surprised. I've been following this case closely. I used to be the secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, so I have a few acquaintances in it."

Su Huaizhang smiled and said, "But don't worry, he didn't reveal much to me, or rather, he didn't know much either. I figured it out myself."

"Let me tell you about a case that happened in 98, and give you a clue."

Jiang Yiming nodded.

Although Jiang Yiming didn't know why Su Huaizhang wanted to talk to him about a case from five or six years ago, he felt that there must be a connection.

"That year, a boss named Xiang Xiaodong came to Xinping County to invest. He was generous and became close with many officials. In 97, DVDs entered the Chinese market and entered a period of explosive growth. Many people were very optimistic about the market prospects of DVDs. In retrospect, if you could have entered the market early on, you could have made a fortune."

"Xiang Xiaodong was one of them. He described his grand plan to Zhang Zhengping, the then county party secretary. He assured Zhang Zhengping that once the DVD project was launched, Xinping County's economy would immediately be able to break into the top three. Zhang Zhengping took the heads of the Bureau of Commerce, the Economic and Trade Commission, and other departments to the south for an inspection. They felt that the project was very feasible, so they agreed to launch it."

“Even building a small workshop for DVD production requires a significant investment. Xiang Xiaodong approached Zhang Zhengping and confessed that he had limited funds and wanted to borrow money from someone, offering a 15% interest rate.”

"Zhang Zhengping readily agreed. At this point, he just wanted the project to start construction and production as soon as possible, so that he could gain another political achievement. With Zhang Zhengping's endorsement, many heads of state-owned enterprises, private business owners, and family members of officials took out money to lend to Xiang Xiaodong."

"In order to win people's hearts, Xiang Xiaodong raised the interest rate for the wives of officials by 5 percentage points, reaching 20%. When the wives of officials saw that the interest rate was so high, they all tried to raise money."

“Some officials’ wives had no money, so they borrowed money from the Agricultural Bank and then lent the money to Xiang Xiaodong.”

“These officials’ wives were not qualified to take out loans, and even if they were, the loan amount would be very small. But in order to put the money with Xiang Xiaodong and earn interest, they colluded with Shen Jian, who was still the director of the credit department, to illegally obtain loans.”

"Just when everyone was excitedly waiting for the project to start and for everyone to make a fortune, Xiang Xiaodong suddenly vanished as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth, and there was no trace of him anymore."

"The news spread quickly, and everyone demanded an explanation. They petitioned multiple times, but they couldn't find anyone, so the matter was dropped. Many self-employed individuals had to sell their houses to repay their loans. As for state-owned enterprises, they could only use their own funds to cover their losses."

“For those officials’ wives, they naturally wouldn’t sell their houses to repay the loans, but instead resorted to shameless behavior. The Agricultural Bank then sued them.”

"But the case was dropped not long after it was filed, leaving behind a mess. In the end, only ordinary people suffered."

How can I resolve the bank loan issue?

Jiang Yiming inquired.

"Naturally, it was resolved internally, and the loan was concealed through other means."

"Wait a moment, I have something to give you."

Su Huaizhang entered the bedroom, rummaged through the documents for a while, and then came out with a yellowed file folder.